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A native of South Texas, Ricardo Antonio Chavira was born in Austin and raised in San Antonio, where he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School, now the Performing Arts School, and Incarnate Word College. He received his MFA from the highly regarded UC-San Diego's Professional Actor Training Program in 2000, and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter. Since that time, he has worked consistently in all areas of the entertainment industry - film, television and theatre.

Film credits include Touchstone's "The Alamo" and several independent films. Television credits prior to "Desperate Housewives" include a series regular role on "The Grubbs," recurring roles on "Six Feet Under" and "The Division," and guest star roles on "Joan of Arcadia," "Kingpin," "24" and "JAG," as well as "NYPD Blue" and two other Steven Bochco series, "Philly" and "City of Angels." He also guest starred on ABC's "George Lopez" last season.

Chavira starred in a production of "Tracers" at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, and has worked at some of the country's top regional theatres, including at the La Jolla Playhouse in "Dogeaters," The Guthrie in "Jack and Jill," the San Diego Rep in "Bandido," and most recently the Seattle Rep & Missouri Rep, where he starred in a co-production of "Living Out."

His success on "Desperate Housewives" has afforded him the opportunity to help in the fight against Breast Cancer, a cause that became highly personal to him at the age of 15, when he lost his own mother to breast and ovarian cancer. He is San Antonio's honorary spokesman for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and in June 2005 served as the National Team Captain for the "Race for the Cure" in Washington DC.

Chavira's greatest achievement and honor, however, was the birth of his son, Tomas Antonio Chavira, in 2003.
(courtesy of ABC)
Best known as Carlos Solis, the unapologetically macho (and unwittingly cuckolded) husband of suburbanite Gabrielle Solis (firecracker Eva Longoria) on the American series phenomenon Desperate Housewives, Texas-born actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira rode the crest of that role from obscurity to national recognition. A graduate of San Antonio's famed Robert E. Lee High School, Chavira reportedly pursued drama at an early age as a clever way to meet women, but in the process discovered a love of the acting craft. The direct descendant of migrant workers, Chavira lost his mother to breast and ovarian cancer before his 16th birthday, and reportedly also used acting as a way to cope psychologically with his family situation. After graduation, the actor earned his undergraduate degree from Incarnate Word College and (after taking some time off) his MFA from the University of California San Diego's esteemed professional actor training program, in 2000. Though Desperate Housewives represented Chavira's breakthrough, he also made guest appearances on such series as NYPD Blue, 24, and JAG, and was a recurring cast member on such series as The Division and Six Feet Under. Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

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